Opinion: Two candidates say the election target is leaders who put their egos aside and stand up for youth

By Tom Haggard and Bradie Bowman
Specially for NKyTribune

The goal of this election? Leaders who put egos aside and work together to help our youth.

With Election Day just weeks away, it is important to remember an important group of Covington citizens who cannot vote but will be dramatically impacted by the ballots cast – our youth.

As two candidates for local office who have spent their entire careers advocating for the needs of young people, especially those in Covington, we join our voices to talk about how leaders can—and must—put their egos aside Roll up our sleeves and… work together to solve complex problems affecting our youth.

Many Covington students face barriers to learning, including food and housing insecurity, substandard and overcrowded housing conditions, and limited access to recreational and enrichment activities.

Every day, Covington Independent Public Schools and its incredible partners strive to break down these barriers with programs that provide students with things like:

• Free meals (including dinner) through our after-school programs.

• Housing support through the Project Home program.

• Basic needs through our Family Resource & Youth Services Centers.

• School-based mental health services (through a partnership with local providers).

• And medical and dental care on campus at Holmes High School in collaboration with
health point.

But these are just some of the needs and challenges, and our schools alone cannot solve them all. It will take our entire community to help Covington become the inclusive and thriving city we all want to be.

We believe this collaboration can work because it works now. Here’s a success story that focuses on another significant learning barrier brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: access to reliable, high-speed internet connectivity, also known as the “digital divide.”

As schools were forced to shift to virtual learning during this frightening time, many Covington youth were at a disadvantage compared to those in surrounding communities because their families did not have access to the high-speed internet connections necessary for virtual learning.

Enter “Covington Connect.” In an unprecedented collaborative effort led by the City of Covington, city leaders came together with the school district, the Housing Authority of Covington, altafiber and others to address inequities in internet connectivity by providing residents access to free Wi-Fi throughout the city. The multi-million dollar initiative included installing more than 120 Wi-Fi “hotspots” in areas where schoolchildren lived, laying fiber optics to public housing complexes and distributing 1,000 free, refurbished computers to families who needed them needed most.

As of Spring 2024, there were nearly 78,000 enrollments with over 1.8 million online sessions, with nearly 400,000 of those sessions known to have been conducted by students. These student sessions lasted an average of 65 minutes and more than half of them took place in three neighborhoods: Eastside, Westside and Austinburg.

This collective effort continues to have a significant positive impact on our community and is a testament to what we can achieve when we work together to embrace and support our youth, families and neighbors. As members of the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of Covington, a body on which we both continue to serve, we have enthusiastically supported this effort from the beginning. Through our work with HAC and through our positions with Covington schools, we are proud to continue our support.

Imagine how much we could achieve if we addressed all barriers to learning with the same collaborative problem-solving approach.

• What if we started a joint city-school district recreation commission that could manage and provide improvements to our recreational facilities, including parks, fields and plazas
Leisure programs for young people and adults?

• What if the city, schools and private sector worked together? of affordable and affordable housing solutions for families?

• What if the city, the schools and our nonprofit partners came together to ensure there was a free or low-cost activity for youth to participate in every day next summer –
from the first day of summer vacation to the last day before school starts?

These ideas are possible – but only if the community elects leaders who are willing to roll up their sleeves, side with our egos and work together on behalf of our youth. We as candidates are committed to bringing our longstanding collaboration across our public school system and the Housing Authority Board to bridge the gap between the city and schools and develop real, workable solutions to improve outcomes for our students and our families Community.

We are two candidates who believe in this cause with every fiber of our being, but there are others. Be sure to ask the candidates for the city’s Board of Commissioners and Board of Education how they plan to work together to solve big, complex problems affecting youth. Ask them how they want to work together and make sure we see results.

For too long there has been too much blame, defensiveness, turf-protection and blame from many people. This has to come to an end. Ultimately, Covington’s growth and success is tied to Covington Independent Public Schools. If the school system does not function well, it is difficult to attract and retain families. At the same time, if the city does not make significant efforts to develop policies and programs to support our families, our youth will continue to struggle.

We CAN solve big problems, but only if we work together.

Bradie Bowen is a candidate for the Covington Board of Commissioners. Tom Haggard is the current chairman of the Covington Board of Education and a candidate for re-election.